


You Don't Have to Wear a Suit and Tie

by ZDcookie_996



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Monaco 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21596632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZDcookie_996/pseuds/ZDcookie_996
Summary: Charles and Lando go on their first date but it's not without a bit of teasing from some of their fellow drivers.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Lando Norris
Comments: 20
Kudos: 118





	1. He Wants to get to Know you Better

**Author's Note:**

> I've been planning a story with Charles and Lando where they go on a first date. The first chapter focuses on Lando and Carlos where Lando gets ready, the second chapter will focus on the date and the third will focus on the teasing from their fellow rivals as they hear about the date. I hope you all enjoy this and if you have an prompts, please let me know!

Lando was busy raking around his suitcase for any decent clothes he could find. He wanted to look nice for Charles, for their date but he wasn’t happy with anything. He’d only brought McLaren clothes, something comfortable for his day off and travelling clothes. Was it acceptable to turn up in a polo top and jeans? They weren’t going out anywhere fancy. Charles had invited him to his house and said he’d cook. As they were in Monaco, there was the chance that they would be disturbed and neither driver wanted that. They also had qualifying the next day so it wasn’t like they could go out all night. Charles had invited Lando out on a date in Canada. After Lando’s retirement, Charles figured he could cheer the Brit up by spending more time with him. It would be a nice quiet night in. Lando wasn’t a fan of partying or drinking and Charles was respectful of that so he offered to cook. The pair were smitten with each other and their friends would often tease them for giving each other dopey smiles from across the paddock or when the drivers waited for the drivers parade on race days. 

He is interrupted by a knock at the door. He frowns. It couldn’t be Charles, it was more than an hour before he was supposed to come and meet Lando outside his hotel. The teen made his way to the door and was surprised but not impressed to find Carlos on the other side. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Carlos frowns at the look on Lando’s face.

“Nothing.” Mumbles the teen.

He holds the door out for his teammate and goes back to raking through his clothes, determined to find something decent as he only had around an hour to get ready. His teammate stands and watches him for a moment, confused as to why Lando is rifling through clothes and then it dawns on him, he smirks.

“Getting ready for your date, huh?”

Lando whips round to look at him and Carlos takes great satisfaction knowing that he is right due to the blush on Lando’s face. Carlos had known about Lando’s crush on the young Ferrari driver and he had often had conversations with Pierre, joking that if they didn’t get their act together, that other people would be arranging a set up between them. Lando had called Carlos when he got back home after Canada to tell him about the date and his teammate was very happy for him. The pair were smitten and they both cared for each other. Fellow drivers had taken the mick out of them before they had even got together but they still cared about the two drivers. No one was bothered by the fact that they were both gay and that they liked each other. Lando had now taken to running his hands through his hair in frustration.

“I don’t know what to wear.” He whined.

Carlos sighed quietly.

“Where are you going?” Questioned the Spaniard.

“His apartment.”

Carlos narrowed his eyes. That didn’t seem like a usual place to go on a first date.

“He doesn’t want us to be disturbed, we are in his home town after all.” Explained Lando.

Carlos nodded. He completely understood Charles’ reasoning plus if Charles and Lando were alone in the apartment, the pair would feel more comfortable knowing there was no one else around. Smart boy. Carlos went over to his teammate and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to wear anything fancy if you’re only going to his apartment.” Said Carlos, soothingly. 

Lando sighed in frustration.

“I want to make a good impression.”

Carlos looked at him in understanding. If Charles and Lando were both serious about each other as he thought, he knew that his teammate would want to go all out.

“He’s not expecting a suit and tie, just wear whatever you’re most comfortable in.” Said Carlos.

Lando let out a huff and bent down to collect some clothes before he laid them on the bed and smoothed them out. Carlos watched on as the teen looked back between the clothes on the bed and his suitcase. He grabbed Lando by his shoulders so that the Brit was facing him.

“I swear Charles just wants to spend more time with you, Lando, get to know you better. He’s not going to care about what you’re wearing and if he does, I’ll have words with him.” Said Carlos, firmly. 

Lando smiled slightly as Carlos dropped his hands to his sides and raked around his teammate’s suitcase before looking back to the clothes on the bed. 

“Why don’t you wear the polo top and jeans? That’s still smart." Carlos acknowledged. 

His teammate nodded and grabbed the clothes before heading to the bathroom, telling Carlos that he’d be five minutes. The Spaniard looked around the room and then had a thought before shouting through the door to Lando that he was heading back to his room and that he’d be a few minutes and he rushed out of the room without listening to Lando’s response. When he returned, he knocked on the door and was met by Lando who had changed and Carlos smiled as he noticed that the teen had attempted to fix his hair. He let out a chuckle.

“See you look good.” He said as he came back into the room.

His teammate smiled and he seemed more relaxed. Carlos smiled back at him and held up a bottle of aftershave. He started to spray some at Lando and only stopped when the teen swatted his hands at him. 

“Jeez, Carlos, I don’t want to drown in it plus I don’t want Charles to be overwhelmed.” Coughed Lando.

Carlos rolled his eyes.

“It’s a little bit of aftershave, it won’t hurt anyone. Besides, I thought you wanted to impress him.” Carlos smirked.

Lando looked at the ground, sheepish and ignored his teammate as his phone buzzed. He took it out his pocket and swallowed as he looked at it.

“Charles is just leaving, he’s coming here to pick me up.” Lando explained.

“Lucky boy getting picked up.” Carlos said as he wiggled his eyebrows, teasingly.

Lando rolled his eyes and grabbed a jacket. 

“I don’t know where he lives so he said he’d come over so we could walk together.” Said Lando.

Carlos smiled at the teen.

“I better head down.” Mumbled Lando.

“Enjoy your night. Relax as well. Charles really cares about you and he wants to get to know you better. There’s nothing to worry about, you don’t have to prove yourself to him. Just be yourself.” Carlos said, seriously.

“Thanks Carlos.” Murmured Lando.

The Spaniard patted his teammate on the shoulder as they headed towards the door. 

“Don’t be late back, remember it’s qualifying tomorrow.” He teased.

He smiled as Lando gave him a playful shove. They said goodnight to one another and headed off in different directions. Lando stood outside the hotel in the shadows and waited for Charles, nervously.


	2. The First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles and Lando have their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter is the actual date! I literally just made up a kind of pasta, the idea was to have an Italian dish because Charles is now a Ferrari driver but I just picked a random one but at least there is an Italian dessert featured! (Well as far as I know it's Italian). Also for the purpose of this story, Charles lives close to the hotel that Lando is staying in, I have no idea where about in Monaco he stays, I just know it's not far from the track. I also have no idea what his apartment is like so I've just imagined it for the purpose of this story. The third and final chapter will be set during the drivers parade where the other drivers find out about the date and tease both Charles and Lando whilst also giving their support. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Lando was a ball of nerves as he waited for Charles. Whilst it wasn't a late night, he tried to hide from others who were passing by but also tried to remain visible so that Charles could see him. He smiled brightly when he saw Charles walking along the path and he stepped forward to meet him. Charles smiled at him as well and it made him relax a little.

"Hey, how are you?" Charles asked gently.

"I'm good thanks." Replied Lando.

Charles continued to smile at him.

"Shall we go?" Questioned Charles.

He let out a chuckle as Lando nodded his head enthusiastically and fell into step with the young Monegasque, walking beside him with Charles leading the way. Lando tried not to jump in surprise when Charles' hand brushed alongside his. Lando started to ask Charles if he was looking forward to the race on Sunday what with it being his home race.

"I'm so excited for Sunday, you'll be the same in Silverstone. There's nothing better than driving at your home grand prix." Charles informed him.

Soon enough they found themselves outside Charles' apartment. The Ferrari driver lead the way and Lando followed his example by kicking his shoes off. He watched as Charles took his jacket off. Carlos had been right. Charles was dressed in just a white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Whether it was because he wanted to be comfortable in his own home, Lando didn't know but he made a mental note to thank Carlos later for encouraging him not to dress up too fancy. Charles turned round to him and held out a hand.

"I'll take your jacket if you want." 

Lando had to try and hide his face in embarrassment as he struggled to get the offending object off of him as he could also hear Charles chuckling quietly. He eventually got it off and handed it to Charles. He looked around the apartment in awe. It looked so nice. Charles then made his way to the kitchen with Lando following at the back of him. 

"Do you want a drink? I'm sorry it won't be anything adventurous since we're both driving tomorrow." Charles asked.

Lando laughed slightly.

"It's fine, I'll just have water thanks." He replied.

He watched on as Charles grabbed two glasses from a cupboard and went over to the fridge to grab two bottles of water. He opened the bottles separately, pouring one with one bottle and then the other before passing a glass to Lando. The Brit murmured a small thank you before talking a sip as Charles had a drink himself.

"I hope pasta is okay for dinner. I had no idea what you would like but figured that everyone likes pasta." Charles said.

"Sounds great." Responded Lando.

Charles started to gather the ingredients and different cooking instruments as he set to work on getting dinner ready.

"I didn't know you could cook." Lando said, softly.

Charles winked at him.

"One of my hidden talents. I just hope you like it." He replied.

Lando was comfortable to just stand and watch as Charles began cooking. He was surprised with how easy it was to talk to the young Monegasque. Obviously they had talked in Canada where Charles had asked Lando out on the date and they had briefly spoken over the course of the year, but this was different. It was just the two of them in their own little bubble in Charles' apartment. Lando had no idea how much time had passed before Charles was playfully shooing him into the dining room. Charles placed his own glass of water on the table before pulling back a chair for the teen to sit on.

"Why thank you kind sir." Lando said cheekily.

He sat for a moment as Charles left to go and get the food. The table was already set up with napkins and cutlery and Lando felt his insides melt as he noticed two candles sitting at both ends of the table. He smelt it before Charles even entered the room and it smelt amazing! A plate was soon placed down in front of him as Charles took a seat across from him with his own plate. It was spaghetti carbonara but Lando had noticed that Charles had chucked a few vegetables in. Obviously it was to keep up slightly with their diet seeing as they were also on strict portion sizes so Lando was glad to see that the plate was not overflowing with pasta.

"It looks and smells amazing." Lando whispered.

Charles smiled at him.

"Enjoy!" He cheered as they both began to eat. 

Lando could see out of the corner of his eye that Charles was watching him eat, probably to see if he liked the food rather than to spy on him. Lando closed his eyes in satisfaction as he twirled some spaghetti into his fork and popped it into his mouth.

"Good?" He heard a voice call out.

He opened his eyes and saw that Charles looked slightly nervous as he waited for an answer.

"So good." Lando replied softly.

Charles looked pleased with himself as the pair continued to eat. Once they were finished, the pair placed their cutlery onto the plates and Lando looked up at Charles. 

"That was so nice. Thank you." He told him gently.

Charles smiled at him.

"I have dessert if you have enough room for it. Don't worry it has fruit on it." Charles said as Lando looked conflicted.

The Brit was thinking carefully over whether it would be a good idea to eat dessert considering he was due to drive tomorrow but then Charles was looking at him expectantly and Lando didn't want to upset him so he nodded. He felt giddy as Charles now had a bright smile on his face.

"If it helps, I'm going for a run in the morning." Charles informed him.

The Ferrari driver reached out for Lando's plate and placed it on top of his own, having to bat Lando's hand away when he tried to help. He stood up and picked the plates up before gazing down at Lando.

"Close your eyes, I want it to be a surprise." He said.

Lando did as he was told, listening out carefully although he didn't do a good job of it because whilst he heard Charles leave, he never heard him return. He was shocked when he heard a voice in front of him say:

"You can open your eyes now."

When he opened them, he looked towards Charles who was looking at him thoughtfully. The young Monegasque directed his gaze down onto the table and Lando followed it. There in front of him and Charles was a cheesecake with raspberries on the top. Lando could feel his mouth drop in amazement as he stared at the dessert in front of him. It wasn't often that he was able to eat something like this during the racing season.

"It's ricotta cheesecake. I made it myself." Charles said shyly.

Lando gaped at Charles before his eyes wondered back to the cheesecake. 

"You don't have to eat it all. I thought we could share it." Said Charles.

Lando's mouth snapped shut as he looked around on the table and frowned when he realised there was only one spoon beside the plate.

"There's only one spoon." He stated.

Charles calmly picked up the spoon before cutting into the cheesecake as he held it out in front of Lando.

"We share the dessert, we share the spoon." He said cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Lando rolled his eyes fondly as he opened his mouth to let Charles feed him. He moaned in satisfaction. The cheesecake was amazing!

"Nice?" Charles asked.

"So nice." Lando mumbled happily around the mouthful. 

The pair shared the cheesecake, Charles taking turns between feeding himself and feeding Lando. When they were finished, Lando thanked him and the pair smiled at each other. Charles got up and reached out for the plate.

"Wait here for moment, I'll be back." He informed the teen.

Lando sat there for a moment thinking about the amazing dinner he'd just had, he wouldn't mind doing it again. Charles appeared in the doorway and held out a hand.

"Come on. Let's go and chill for a bit. I'll get the dishes later." He said.

Lando got up out of his seat and shakily took Charles' hand.

"Are you sure?" He questioned, quietly.

"Yes, you are a guest." Charles insisted as he led Lando towards his living room. 

The Ferrari driver sat down and let go of Lando's hand, patting the space beside him to encourage the Brit to sit down. Lando sat down beside him and had to hold back a squeak as he felt an arm wrap around his waist but he relaxed quickly.

"I'm glad you enjoyed dinner. We should do it again some time." Charles murmured.

Lando hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Lando said softly.

Charles grinned as he rubbed a hand up and down Lando's side. 

"So, how do you think you'll get on during the race on Sunday? I know you've been to Monaco before but." Charles questioned.

"Hopefully better than Canada." Lando replied sadly.

"Canada wasn't your fault." Charles told him sternly.

Lando let out a sigh.

"I know, it's just. Carlos did well and I want to beat him." He said.

"There's plenty of races to come and more points to get. There will be a time where you will do better than him. I mean look at me, my teammate is a four time world champion." Charles states.

"Yet you seem to be giving him a run for his money." Lando responded cheekily.

That made Charles smile as he turned to look at Lando.

"Yeah. I mean I should have won in Bahrain and it didn't happen but hopefully I'll win before him." Said Charles.

"You should have won in Bahrain." Lando murmurs.

"Thank you." Whispered Charles.

The pair gazed into one another's eyes. Charles lifted a hand and cupped Lando's cheek, stroking over the soft skin with his thumb. Lando looked at him with hooded eyes as Charles leaned in closer, eyes drifting from Lando's eyes to his lips and back to his eyes. Charles gave Lando time to move away but the Brit seemed to draw him closer as he felt a tight grip on the bottom on his t-shirt. The pair leaned in closer as their lips met and their eyes closed, both just enjoying the feeling of the soft kiss. Charles felt Lando place his hand on his knee and he sighed into the kiss, never wanting it to end. When breathing became a problem, they pulled apart but Charles kept Lando close by resting their foreheads together. 

"I'd like to do this again." Whispered Charles.

"Me too." Lando agreed.

Charles gave him a soft smile before pulling away, ignoring the whine that left Lando's mouth, drawing the teen closer so that Charles was slumped against the couch with Lando cuddled into his side. They sat like that for a while just cuddled up together. Time meant nothing to them until Lando broke the comfortable silence with a yawn. He looked flustered when Charles let out a chuckle but relaxed when he felt a kiss against his forehead.

"Come on. We shouldn't really have a late because we'll be back in the car tomorrow. I'll walk you back to the hotel." Charles said.

The Ferrari driver got up first then hauled Lando to his feet, keeping a tight drip on his hand as he walked with him into the hallway. He put his jacket on first before grabbing Lando's. The Brit held out a hand with the intention of putting it on himself until Charles spun him around. He squeaked in surprise but let Charles put his jacket on for him and he was turned around to face the young man. Charles hadn't done up the zip so he grabbed the collar of the jacket and pulled Lando in for a chaste kiss. They both giggled softly as they remained close until Charles whispered:

"Come on, I don't want to be held responsible for a driver going missing."

Lando rolled his eyes as Charles grabbed his keys before leading him out of the apartment. They walked back in comfortable silence, hands brushing again and Lando felt his stomach do a somersault at the fact that they had just been on their first date. When they reached the hotel, Lando was silently glad that Charles looked as disappointed as he felt that they'd have to go their separate ways for now.

"I enjoyed tonight." Charles murmured.

Lando smiled brightly at him.

"I did too." Lando replied.

Charles smiled then looked around to make sure they were alone before placing a soft kiss on Lando's cheek. The teen felt his face go bright red as Charles looked back at him fondly. 

"I'll see you tomorrow." Charles whispered.

"See you then." Lando replied, completely dazed. 

Charles reluctantly walked away and back along the path they had just walked on. He turned around and waved at Lando who gave him a wave back in return. Charles carried on walking and Lando sighed deeply when the Ferrari driver went out of sight. He headed up to his room, his thoughts only filled with Charles. His phone vibrated when he made it back into the room. He scoffed when he saw it was Carlos and he carefully opened up the message:

Hope the date went well! I will want all the details!

Lando groaned. Of course his teammate would want to know everything about his first date. He was deep down really glad to have a teammate like Carlos. He just didn't need to know about his love life.


	3. Talking It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lando doesn't want everyone to know about his date with Charles and is concerned about where he stands relationship wise with a certain Ferrari driver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter completed! Not going to lie it took a slightly different direction than I originally had planned! Thought I should write a little bit about insecure Lando and have Charles comfort him. As always, can we please imagine that Charles and Pierre are talking in French. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and have enjoyed this story! Please continue to send in any prompts you may have!

Lando didn’t see much of Charles until Sunday as the drivers waited for the drivers parade to commence. He was standing alongside Carlos, Alex and George, wishing that he could be anywhere else other than there as Carlos badgered Lando to tell the boys how his date went. Lando hadn’t told Carlos anything other than the fact that he got back to the hotel safely and that he’d had a good time. The teen was quietly thankful that both himself and his teammate were busy over the past few days so he didn’t have time to tell Carlos anything but now he was desperate to find out all the details.

“Come on, Lando! Tell us how it went!” Insisted Carlos.

George and Alex smiled at him as Lando groaned in frustration.

The pair knew about Lando’s crush on Charles and were really glad that they had gone on a date and were also desperate to hear how it went.

“We had a nice time. What else do you need to know?” Questioned Lando.

Alex scoffed.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous! You’ve been pining after Charles for months, it must have been better than ‘nice’.” He stated.

“I’ve not been pining.” Mumbled Lando.

“Sure you haven’t.” Mumbled Alex under his breath.

“At least tell us what you did. He did take you to his apartment after all.” Carlos said.

George let out a little laugh and wolf whistled. Lando batted his arm to keep him quiet, he really didn’t want the rest of the grid to find out about his date and he grew red in the face when some of the drivers turned to stare at the group.

“Could you not broadcast this to the entire paddock?” He pleaded.

“I think the two of you are cute together. You shouldn’t be so worried if everyone found out.” Carlos informed.

Lando shrugged and was glad that Carlos couldn’t see into his eyes otherwise he’d know how much this was affecting Lando. He didn’t want everyone to know about him and Charles. It was still early days and he’d never really been in a proper relationship before.

“So what did you guys do?” Alex asked, genuinely interested.

“Charles made dinner.” Replied Lando.

Carlos chuckled.

“Aww! I’ll need to ask him for some cooking tips.” He said cheekily.

Lando rolled his eyes.

George reached out and patted him on the arm, seeming to sense that he was a bit unsettled.

“It’s alright, Lando. We’re happy for you and Charles really seems to care about you.” He said.

Lando gave him a small smile. He tried not to sigh out loud when Carlos bumped their shoulders together.

“Next time you go out on a date, it will be later, no? Seeing as you messaged me to say you had returned.” He said jokingly.

Lando just shook his head and was glad that the drivers were now being called to go and get ready for the drivers parade. It would thankfully put an end to the conversation. As much as he enjoyed his date with Charles, he wasn’t entirely sure if the young Ferrari driver wanted to do it again or commit to a proper relationship. He really wanted to put he was unsure if Charles felt the same. Not that he’d been ignoring his fellow driver during the parade, it was just that Lando didn’t want to crowd him and was happy to spend time with his teammate and other drivers. He was unaware of the conversation that Charles was having with Pierre.

Charles and Pierre were busy talking about racing strategies. The young Monegasque felt awkward as Lance stood by the side, trying to feel included in conversation. Charles was somewhat glad when Lance eventually moved away and began talking to Antonio. The two friends were interrupted in their conversation as George wolf whistled and watched on as Lando batted him on the arm. Pierre observed Charles as he gazed over fondly at the young Brit. He knew that his friend really liked Lando and had been excited for him when he had been told about the date. He hadn’t had the chance yet to ask how it went.

“How did the date go?” He asked Charles.

The driver in question turned back to look at Pierre and the Frenchman nearly laughed as Charles gave him a soft smile and had a hint of red cheeks.

“Really good. He came to my apartment and I made him dinner then we chilled for a while.” He replied.

Pierre smiled.

“So will you be going on another date?” He asked.

Charles shrugged.

“I’d like to.” He paused.

Pierre frowned.

“But?”

Charles sighed.

“I don’t know if Lando wants to go out with me. I’d really like to date him, Pierre. I really like him.”

Pierre shook his head gently.

“Charles, there’s no harm in asking. I’m sure Lando likes you as much as you like him. If he enjoyed the date, then surely you can go on another one.” He insisted.

Charles nodded slightly. The pair were then directed along with all the other drivers to go to the drivers parade. Neither Lando nor Charles mentioned the date again to anyone during the drivers parade. When the truck came to a stop later on, Lando could see Charles heading off in the direction of the motorhome and he followed at the back of him, intending to talk to him about what had been said before the drivers parade.

“Charles!” He called out when he saw that no one else was around.

His heart fluttered when Charles turned around and smiled at him. The Ferrari driver came to a halt and waited for Lando to catch up with him.

“Can I talk to you?” Lando asked, softly.

“Of course.” Replied Charles, gently.

He headed in the direction of the motorhome and came to a stop at the side of it, in the gap where no one else would interrupt them. He looked at Lando and took off his cap, running a hand through his hair. Lando had taken his cap off as well and was fiddling about with it, looking nervous.

“Carlos told George and Alex about our date.” He said, quietly.

Charles just nodded.

“I told Pierre about it.” He explained.

He couldn’t see Lando’s eyes behind the sunglasses and he felt nervous.

“I’m sorry, it’s just that Pierre is one of my best friends. We’ve known each other for years and he knows how much I like you.” He apologised.

Lando swallowed hard.

“How much do you like me?” He asked, softly.

Charles sighed and reached out to take Lando’s sunglasses off his face and folded then up to rest on the inside of his fleece.

“I really like you, Lando and I’d like to go on another date with you. I want a relationship with you, if that’s want you want.” He stated, seriously.

“I do want that, it’s just, this would be my first proper relationship. That’s why I wasn’t happy with Carlos telling George and Alex. I’m not ready for everyone to know because I want to get it right.” Lando said, nervously.

Charles smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around Lando’s waist.

“We can take it one step at a time. There’s no rush.” He said, gently.

Lando grinned.

“I’d really like to go on another date with you.” He said, happily.

Charles smiled and leaned in to give Lando a soft kiss. The pair pulled apart when they heard noises coming in the direction of the motorhome.

“Good luck for the race.” Whispered Charles.

“Good luck at your home grand prix, racer boy.” Lando replied cheekily.

Charles stuck his tongue out at Lando and watched as the teen made his way past the motorhome and in the direction of McLaren. He was excited for the future and how his relationship with Lando would turn out.

Meanwhile, Lando made a mental note to have words with Carlos for telling people about himself and Charles. He wanted to do this on his own terms. He was just happy that Charles felt the same way as he did.


End file.
